


(Part Of) An Evening In The Life Of A Droid With A Back-Up Plan And His Human Who Really Isn't So Bad

by Nununununu



Series: Just Another Mission (Gone Wrong) [5]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: A preliminary guide to touching your spy à la K-2SO, Communication, Don't copy to another site, Droid rights, Feelings, How to throw yourself at your droid à la Cassian, Hugs, M/M, Mutual Pining, Robot Feels, Robot/Human Relationships, Touching, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-18 23:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/pseuds/Nununununu
Summary: As he sat on the floor of Cassian’s tiny room, K-2SO wasn’t looking at the manual interface held in his friend’s hands.He was looking at Cassian.
Relationships: Cassian Andor/K-2SO
Series: Just Another Mission (Gone Wrong) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592398
Comments: 17
Kudos: 58





	(Part Of) An Evening In The Life Of A Droid With A Back-Up Plan And His Human Who Really Isn't So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Follows on immediately from the previous instalment and refers to earlier ones.
> 
> (My dyslexia is definitely appreciating me writing this in a series format rather than a single multi-chaptered fic XD).
> 
> Update: edited in places.

As he sat on the floor of Cassian’s tiny room, K-2SO wasn’t looking at the manual interface held in his friend’s hands.

He was looking at Cassian.

There was emotion in the human’s face, had been since he stormed into his cramped quarters and stood without doing anything for one point three minutes, his tension so great that in any other organic it would have undoubtedly manifested itself as a shout or scream.

K-2SO had heard Cassian both shout and scream in the past, during missions his memory files contained the details of, locked and buried in subfolders within subfolders. To his displeasure they had a tendency to nevertheless trouble him at times, especially when Cassian was undercover or out of contact on a lengthy solo mission, attempting to open and play unbidden.

There was no need whatsoever for K-2SO to analyse the reason for this.

At the present moment, a great number of the droid’s processes were instead devoted to Cassian as he was right now: the human sitting on his narrow bed with his elbows propped on his knees, his shoulders gradually relaxing, letting go of his habitual self-control for once as his attention focused on the data tracking across the manual interface.

All of his body slowly inclining inwards, as if towards the screen.

“You – did all this,” Cassian’s eyes appeared notably darker than usual when he glanced up at K-2SO, a hand rising so the first two fingers could partially conceal his mouth, the way they did when he was experiencing some emotion and would permit himself the tell.

K-2SO was inescapably aware that the majority of his code was entirely different from when Cassian had last seen it. It also looked damningly little like that of either an Imperial or Rebel droid, only vaguely resembling the code of the droids he'd liberated in the sense that they sometimes chose to adopt elements of his idiosyncrasies.

It occurred to him belatedly to wonder whether he should have been concerned Cassian would react poorly to the revelation of just how thoroughly K-2SO had changed himself since gaining independence. Any other organic would have demanded a re-instalment by now. The majority of other organics would have taken the opportunity afforded by the manual interface to attempt to wipe his programming themselves.

But Cassian was neither shocked nor horrified, and K-2SO hadn't felt it necessary to consider such a possibility; he hadn't needed to calculate percentages. He _knew_.

“Of course,” He didn’t need to glance down at the screen to know which parts of himself had decided to reveal themselves to his friend, but he did so anyway. Arrested by the sight of Cassian’s other hand tracing over glowing lines of spiralling code, areas of K-2SO’s core programming that were all essentially saying

_I am._

_I’m here. I’m alive._

“You are. Kay, _you_ _are_ ,” Cassian insisted as if he too understood the defiance contained within these simple statements. And because he was neither Stupid nor an Idiot the vast majority of the time, but was in fact the best and most brilliant of all the organics – of anyone – K-2SO had encountered –

He did.

Of course Cassian did. He had understood from the start.

And because he was neither Stupid nor an Idiot, he frowned as he looked back down, gaze swiftly locating certain points others would only skim over before flicking back up to K-2SO again. Lowering his hand from his face, Cassian bit his lip, a small gesture that was unaccountably distracting and one that left K-2SO beset by a phantom sensation in his hardware that was inexplicably similar to that of a bolt being screwed on too tight.

“Kay, this is –” The fingers of Cassian’s other hand skimmed over the screen again and K-2SO had to cancel an unexpected flurry of unintentionally initiated commands.

For all he told himself the notion was ridiculous, the sight of those small fingers brushing the bright lines of his code felt as startling and intimate as if Cassian had simply opened K-2SO’s chestplate and reached inside.

Fans and servos whined alike as K-2SO informed himself he was not experiencing a form of echo – that his systems had no right to react as if those fingers were touching his core.

“This is – ah. This is _me_ ,” Emotion chased more visibly than ever across Cassian’s face before he determinedly smoothed it out, although K-2SO knew him well enough to still easily identify it in his voice, “I’m there, aren’t I. In your code.”

A jumbled mass of simulations popped up to provide K-2SO with so many possible excuses and explanations they swamped his systems for two point nine seconds, an inexcusably long time given how fast his processes were going.

“Of course you are,” He resorted to the simple truth in the end.

It was undeniable – in carefully disguised sections and unexpected locations, intertwined with the basic data that made up the droid, Cassian was a part of K-2SO as much as K-2SO was. In a way an enemy droid or technician – or a _Rebel_ technician – would find extremely difficult to discover, but one that Cassian had identified.

He might not be a droid expert, but it seemed he was an expert on K-2SO.

“Like I informed you earlier, it’s not as a result of your fumbling back when we first met,” K-2SO told his human, because Cassian looked as if he needed the reminder. Conscious he should then probably stop talking, the droid found himself continuing, “I did it deliberately. You're there, Cassian.” Indeed, he should definitely stop talking now, “That way I have a part of you with me all the time.”

“ _K-Kay_ –” This emerged as a broken whisper, Cassian sounding as affected as K-2SO had ever heard him.

And then Cassian was tipping off the thin mattress, small limbs seeming to collapse in on themselves as he folded down towards the floor, coming very close to tumbling all but on top of K-2SO who caught him, slowing his fall.

K-2SO hadn’t predicted this development at all.

“ _Cassian_ –” It was entirely new behaviour. The sudden proximity was so astonishing and so immensely welcome, K-2SO’s entire processor hitched, the resultant tremor rattling his frame.

Quickly working to stabilise the reaction and avoid any harm to the man now all but in his arms, he shifted on the floor as best he was able, creating what meagre additional space he could for Cassian.

“I’m fine,” Cassian seemed to think it was a good idea to claim, making no move to adjust his position, apparently content to remain wedged in between the bed and the droid.

K-2SO had documented proof of the barely perceptible ways in which Cassian’s voice and body had a tendency to betray him by displaying his discomfort, and the various tactics he had developed to counter them. It wasn’t discomfort Cassian was displaying now, although the angle of his spine could not be pleasant and his fingers were white-tipped where he gripped the edges of the interface.

Each of K-2SO’s projections returned the likelihood that Cassian was anticipating him having a negative reaction.

“You’re not 'fine',” K-2SO cautiously placed his arm around Cassian’s shoulders as a result, a rush of emotions that could only be called _pleasure_ and _relief_ chasing through his circuits when Cassian notably didn’t complain, “Why would you –”

“There’s something I want to tell you,” Cassian was clearly not willing or ready to provide an answer, his head bowed just enough for his hair to curtain his face, obscuring his expression.

K-2SO looked down at him like this, taking in his body heat and the rate of his heartbeat and all the other little indications that Cassian was alive and unharmed and functioning at a more than satisfactory level, and the moment seemed to suspend itself, recording indelibly into his memory, as if this was a time he would look back on in the future as a precise example of The Way Things Should Be.

The way he so _wanted_ things to be. Cassian, held safe against him.

Desperate not to risk everything by commenting on this, K-2SO instead predicted, “The gift you promised me.”

Something about his phrasing made the heat Cassian was giving off increase, blooming across the back of his neck and his cheeks. Wanting to see his face, K-2SO coaxed fine strands of hair away from his friend’s forehead, a fan shuddering when Cassian made a quiet noise in response.

“It's not exactly a gift,” His lower lip was reddened and slightly swollen when he glanced up at K-2SO, Cassian clearly having been biting it to a greater degree than the droid had ever witnessed him do previously. His dark eyes intent on K-2SO’s faceplate, scanning it as if he was searching for something in the way he had begun doing over the past standard week, “But yes. Part of it, anyway.”

“Oh thank goodness,” K-2SO cut off the power to his optics for an exact second in an indication of simulated relief, enough that Cassian would notice, gratified when a tiny smile crooked the edges of the man’s lips. He tipped his head, “I do believe I’ve been very patient waiting for so long.”

“You have,” Cassian's smile grew more visible, “Here –” Settling the manual interface carefully on his knees, he brought a hand up, fingers seeking out K-2SO’s wrist, “May I?”

“You may,” It should probably be disturbing for K-2SO to realise he would agree to ninety seven percent of any possible requests his analytic programming predicted Cassian might make of him at this point, but he didn’t frankly care less.

All of his attention – all of his processing power – was wrapped up in the complicated sequence of numbers and letters Cassian tapped onto his wrist, each gentle impact seeming to transcribe itself onto K-2SO’s core.

“Did you get that?” Cassian quietly asked.

“Did I get that,” It took a moment for K-2SO to be able to answer with the sardonic snort the enquiry deserved. His vocal output sounded strange to his own auditory receptors, oddly shaky, interrupted by static that shouldn’t exist. “Cassian. That code –”

It _was_ a gift. It was –

It was him. Cassian.

A unique sequence given to each organic undercover operative in the Rebellion, one that was never shared except with those highest in the chain of command, used both as a means of identification and as a preventative or override; one the Alliance would not question, and K-2SO knew Cassian would readily die rather than betray to the Empire.

The thought that he should share it with K-2SO –

“Use it,” Cassian’s tone was abruptly fierce. His hand moved, gripping the droid’s wrist with the upper limits of his strength, “Promise me, Kay. When something happens to me and the Alliance insists you belong to them or try to reprogram you, or do anything without your consent –” He laughed a little, humourlessly, “Fuck, use it if you need or want to go somewhere, to get away, and organics are being idiots and trying to prevent you.”

“I’m not taking your identity,” K-2SO was almost offended, “Cassian, I intently dislike the implications of this.”

He also immensely disliked that 'when'.

“I’m going to die at some point, probably sooner rather than later,” They were pressed close enough that K-2SO’s external sensors identified the way Cassian shrugged to a greater degree than his optics, “Or be incarcerated or sent permanently undercover or –” He shook his head, “None of that matters.” His gaze up at the droid was lambent, “None of it, Kay; not what happens to me. Only that I won’t be able to authorise what happens to you as a result – and I _hate_ that that’s necessary, but –”

For Cassian to openly express such a strong feeling was unprecedented.

“I’m not helpless,” K-2SO managed to get out, beset as he was by entirely unhelpful calculations attempting to inform him of the statistical likelihood of Cassian’s death within this standard year, standard month, standard week –

He shut them down viciously.

“And I beg to differ: what happens to you _does_ matter. Obviously. To me, at least,” K-2SO placed the fingers of his other hand gently under Cassian’s chin, seeking to ensure he had his friend’s full attention and to emphasise his point, “Cassian.”

“Mm,” Cassian covertly swallowed, shifting minimally, tiny movements of his body that would seem negligible to anyone else. He hadn’t let go of K-2SO’s wrist despite the droid raising his arm, and so they were linked again as they had been earlier – Cassian touching him and K-2SO touching Cassian, closing a circuit.

Even though Cassian was evidently endeavouring to repress some form of reaction to this, K-2SO couldn’t deny the familiar surge of power that shot through his wiring, causing his optics to unintentionally glow brighter as a result.

“ _Cassian_ ,” He rolled them when Cassian marginally lifted a questioning eyebrow, amusement lightening his circuits at the man’s answering mild snort, “While I appreciate you caring about my well-being, I’d like to assure you that although your concerns are not unfounded, I am not as defenceless as you appear to believe.”

He ran the ball of his thumb gently over the faint frown lines between Cassian’s brows, smoothing them back out.

“O-oh,” Cassian’s breath caught. He was chewing the inside of his cheek this time, another subtle tell K-2SO refrained from drawing his attention to when they were in private, his fingers flexing on the droid’s wrist, “I know you’re not defenceless, Kay; far from it. But all the same –”

“Look,” K-2SO ducked his head meaningfully in the direction of the interface, by now half-slipping, forgotten, off Cassian’s knees.

“Mm?” Cassian’s grip eased as he picked up the peripheral device with his free hand, peering at the lines of code K-2SO brought up on the screen, his bitten lips parting slightly as he read.

His other hand not moving away, not breaking the circuit, but moving ostensibly absently to cover K-2SO’s own hand instead.

“ _Oh_ –” K-2SO had to cut power to his vocabulator altogether to prevent himself from blurting out his reaction to this. He also had to fight to overpower the urge to draw Cassian in even closer, to tug the man onto his lap. Certain Cassian wouldn’t want that, for all the other liberties he’d amazingly allowed K-2SO to take.

Wouldn't he?

While a swift analysis estimated odds that weren’t entirely hopeless, K-2SO found himself uncertain he could actually trust his own judgement for once, too many of his own feelings and wishes clouding the projection, making him doubt his ability to rationalise.

Given his very nature, this should have been extremely troubling. Instead he could barely concentrate, entirely distracted by the feel of Cassian’s fingers slotting neatly between his knuckles, curling over them.

“Hm?” K-2SO must have made some sort of noise as Cassian glanced up at him in the way he did when he was well aware of what he was doing, but was determined to pretend otherwise. His attention returned to the screen almost immediately, scanning rapidly through information before slowing down, concentrating on it, “Kay, this is –”

He’d uncovered one of the other secrets K-2SO’s code contained; secrets the droid was choosing to share with him now.

“Yes,” K-2SO agreed.

“You have a – back-up plan?” Cassian sounded – wary. Tentatively hopeful despite himself and on the edge of allowing himself to actually feel it, “If the Alliance wipes you –”

“I’ll still be there,” K-2SO confirmed.

He didn’t need to look at the proof on the screen, seeing it instead on Cassian’s face. Buried in the data, in hidden drives and places that shouldn't exist, split into the smallest of fragments, he’d worked to ensure just enough of himself would remain even if he were completely reset; just enough to retain an element of his independence despite the wipe and to start rebuilding himself, piece by piece.

Just enough to know that he was _himself_ , along with the knowledge of Cassian’s name.

“So you see,” K-2SO informed him softly, even as he brought his fingers up from Cassian’s chin to stroke over the softness of Cassian’s bitten lower lip, “Short of completely destroying my core, there isn’t anything anyone can do to make me forget you.”

Tears welled shockingly in those dark eyes, but Cassian was smiling lopsidedly, leaning into the touch as if he didn't realise he was doing it, “I hardly think _I’m_ the most important part.”

“We might have to agree to a difference of opinion about that too,” K-2SO traced the line of his jaw.

“ _Kay_ ,” Careful not to tangle the connecting cable, Cassian lowered the interface to the floor before bringing his hand up to cup the droid’s faceplate in return, the premature wrinkles on his brow deepening with emotion, “To know you’ll be all right, that you’ll remain _you_ whatever happens – _fuck_.”

“Fuck’?” K-2SO echoed, just to amuse him.

“Yeah,” Huffing a laugh, Cassian dipped his head in a deliberate movement, just enough for his breath to graze metal fingertips. K-2SO moved them correspondingly, brushing the corners of his upturned lips. Barely able to process how remarkably little distance there was left between them, their legs tangled, the warmth of Cassian's body soaking into his plating, the rhythm of his breathing winding through the droid's wiring to whisper against his core. 

K-2SO tipped his head at the angle they both knew was his own version of a smile, “Are you intending to provide the rest of your explanation or would you like me to guess?”

“ _It’s everything_ ,” Cassian confessed so lowly K-2SO’s sensors failed to identify it until he enhanced the audio and played it back. And that was –

The implications of Cassian saying such a thing –

More than one critical component audibly hiccuped due to the sheer number of alerts flooding K-2SO's system, warning of an imminent crash.

“It’s why I’m not going to retain my knowledge of the sequence you gave me,” Struggling to close the alerts with no little effort, he corrected, and continued when Cassian went to reply, “Cassian. The only way you can convince me not to delete it is if you will permit me to use it if there is no other means of extracting you from danger.”

Because the thought of the alternative fates Cassian had listed for himself were –

No.

“That’s not –” Cassian’s eyebrows gave the impression of attempting to knot themselves together, “Kay, if the situation were such that I couldn’t extract myself, then it would also be unacceptably dangerous for _you_.”

“I have to disagree,” K-2SO slid his fingers up from Cassian’s mouth to his temple, “And besides which, I believe I have already sufficiently proved I will extract you anyway.”

Just as Cassian had likewise proved he would do for K-2SO.

He buried his hand in the soft strands of his friend's hair, memory and medical files overlapping each other as they both sought to inform him where Cassian had been struck on the head during the past few weeks – twice. Touching those places, K-2SO catalogued the way Cassian’s pupils dilated yet further, his small fingers stirring against the droid’s faceplate, slipping down his neck and curving over his shoulder, bringing them tantalisingly close to a gap in K-2SO's plating and the wires beneath.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy fighting all those troopers,” Cassian was evidently remembering the same failure of a mission, back before the one with the insectoids, although the distracted edge to his voice implied his concentration wasn’t on the conversation, “I saw you crush that blaster.”

“Upon reflection the explosion _was_ moderately satisfying,” Equally distracted, K-2SO had to concede.

Not more than moderately, though. Successfully rescuing his human had been immensely more gratifying.

“Don't delete the sequence,” Cassian said simply and quietly, “Please.”

It was so utterly rare for him to directly ask for something, K-2SO could only nod, “All right.”

“Thank you,” On that, Cassian slumped much as he had earlier, bowing forwards like his body simply refused to hold him up any longer, swaying into K-2SO until his forehead was resting against the droid’s chestplate.

“You're exhausted,” K-2SO drew his hand carefully down from Cassian’s hair to cradle the back of his head, thumb tracing the vulnerable start of his spine. It had grown later than he had intended to stay, late enough Cassian might normally have attempted a few hours’ rest.

The entirety of K-2SO's software nonetheless fought his initiating the command to leave.

“Mm,” Cassian was back to monosyllables, but he felt relaxed in a way he hadn’t even seemed when they were sparring, his arms looping loosely around K-2SO’s shoulders. With a near tangible effort of will, he stirred enough for further speech, “Shit, I – haven’t given you everything I need to yet.”

“I’m sure I’ll somehow find a way to survive for a while more,” Given their clashing schedules and the fact Cassian could be called away on a mission anytime, K-2SO made a deliberate effort not to specify how long he felt he could wait – which in honesty did not feel like long at all.

More importantly, he had no desire in the slightest to let Cassian go.

“I shouldn’t keep you here longer,” Cassian mumbled into the droid’s chest.

“I had better leave,” K-2SO forced himself to agree, although he signally failed to make himself move.

“Yes,” Cassian concurred, immediately contradicting himself, for he only held onto K-2SO that much tighter and did nothing to pull away.


End file.
